Band 8.0 — Bar Chart: Household Ownership of Digital Devices (2018–2024)

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of households owning smartphones, tablets and smartwatches in one European country at two-year intervals between 2018 and 2024.

Overall, smartphones were near-universal by the end of the period, having been the most widely owned device throughout, whereas smartwatch ownership expanded fastest of the three. Tablets, by contrast, stagnated and ultimately slipped back.

Smartphone ownership, already high at 78% of households in 2018, climbed steadily at each interval to reach 95% in 2024, leaving little scope for further growth. Tablets followed a markedly different course: their figure edged up from 40% to a peak of 50% in 2022, only to dip to 48% two years later, making them the sole device to register a decline.

The smartwatch, meanwhile, was the standout growth story. Starting from a mere 8% in 2018, a small fraction of the smartphone figure, ownership rose relentlessly to 41% by 2024, a more than five-fold increase over the period. Should this trajectory persist, smartwatches appear likely to overtake tablets, while smartphones seem certain to retain their commanding lead.